This is a guest post from Hulbert Lee

Let’s face it. We live in a society that’s run by capitalism.

If you’re in business, everyone can be seen as a competitor. The ones who have a cold, determined attitude to do whatever it takes to get to the top of their business are also often the people who are highly praised.

High rating TV shows like The Apprentice often teach us that in order to get a job, you have to be willing to out compete others and that there is no room for “nice” or you will be booted. But in my opinion, being nice has more long-term potential to help you in business.

3 Reasons Being Nice Is Better for Business

Here are the reasons I believe we should be nice:

1. Positive Impressions are Contagious

Every time you make a positive action towards others, whether it’s smiling, saying hello, or laughing at someone’s joke, you are spreading positive energy to them. They will hold in this positive energy when they receive it and potentially spread it towards others, making themselves feel better.

Even if people are having a bad day, they will remember back in their day, reminding themselves that there was at least one person who was nice to them and will remember you for it. Not only does it help them prosper, but one day they may return the favor to you.

2. You Never Know Who They Are

You never know who you will run into when you’re nice. I remember a story of Tony Robbins in his book Unlimited Power where he’s in New York. He walks and sits down on a bench in Central Park to see what’s going on.

He notices a man that sits across from him. He starts to do what the man does. When the man throws bread crumbs to the birds, he throws bread crumbs to the birds. When the man sways back and forth, he sways back and forth. When the man looks up, he looks up.

Soon the man walks up to Tony Robbins and starts to talk to him. They engage in friendly conversation together. The guy tells Tony that he feels that he has known him better in that moment than the people he’s known for twenty-five years. He then offers Tony a job. You never know who you will bump into in life that will hand you an opportunity after a friendly chat.

3. People Change Over Time

People change. A person that you are nice to now may turn out to be totally different from who they are today. What I’m getting at here is that we should be nice to people regardless of their status. They may not be the wealthiest person on earth, but you should still be nice to them anyway.

One day when they become a successful person, they will look back and think of those people who helped them become successful. One of those few people could be you and you never know what kind of help they might be able to offer back to you.

Take the High Road and Be Nice

Being nice is something that we should embrace, not just because we want something out of it, but because it just makes us a more fulfilled person inside.

If you consistently portray a nice personality, people are going to remember you for it, especially in a very competitive world. It’s hard to get past that initial fear of lending your hand out there, but if you’re willing to do so, not only will you be able to feel happier, but you’ll influence others in a positive way in which they may one day lend a hand back to you.

Like Jay Leno says, “Life is not that hard. Try giving a little. You would be surprised at how much you get back.”

This has been a guest post from Hulbert Lee. He writes about personal development and success at his blog, FromBottomUp. If you haven’t had a chance already, make sure you follow him Twitter or subscribe to his RSS feed to get his blog updates.

Photo by ZoofyTheJi

My mother always chided me to be nice.  Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t.  After all, we all get grumpy from time-to-time and take it out on those around us.

We can see that being nice to others is good for them, but did you know it is in your best interest too?  Recognizing the personal benefits of being nice might motivate us to do it a little more often like when that person cuts us off in traffic. 

What does it mean to be nice?

Niceness is rather vague.  What exactly does it mean to be nice? 

Well, in my mind, it means being kind, generous, agreeable, pleasant, respectable, friendly, forgiving and tactful.  It means going out of your way to treat others in the way that you want to be treated.

The best portion of a good man’s life – his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love. 
~William Wordsworth

Being nice when you get cut off in traffic, means that instead of assuming the driver is an insane jerk and giving them the bird, you give them the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe they didn’t see you or maybe they were late for a very important meeting or maybe they just made a mistake. 

Why not just smile and let it go?  It is good for you to be nice in these situations.

Being nice also means doing kind acts.  It means volunteering, donating and pitching in to make your home, neighborhood and community a better place. 

It means offering yourself to a cause that you believe to be worthwhile.  This might be something big like saving the environment or little like helping your spouse carry in the groceries.

Nice is such a small word, but it has big implications.  It takes a little time and effort, but it is all so incredibly worth it.

How being nice is good for you, let me count the ways

First, let me say, that I don’t mean to turn being nice into something selfish.  We should certainly strive to be nice for altruistic reasons alone, but knowing the personal benefits might motivate us to be nice a little more often.  That’s my intention here.

Here are ten ways that being nice is good for you:

1.  Being nice leads people to like you

It is much easier to like someone that is nice.  We all want friends that are kind, giving and considerate.  We want and need people in our lives that support us and that will be there for us when we need them.  The old saying, “Be a friend to have a friend” really holds true and research shows that those with a greater social network are often happier, healthier and more productive!

2.  Kindness promotes confidence and optimism

Doing kind acts and being nice builds one’s confidence and optimism.  It just makes us feel good about ourselves when we do things for others.  Giving of ourselves to others builds up our positive self-image.  It also gives us a sense of hope.  We feel more powerful and in control when we make a positive difference in the life of another.

3.  Niceness makes you feel good about yourself

Haven’t you heard that it is better to give than to receive?!?  In fact, studies have shown that the giver usually has a bigger boost in positive emotions than the receiver!  Being kind and nice really is good for you.  It gives you that warm, fuzzy feeling all over.  Of course, these positive feelings carry over into all areas of your life causing a general improvement in well-being.  This translates into feeling good about yourself.  What a bonus!

4.  People will reciprocate in your time of need

From time-to-time, we all face challenges, disappointments and losses in our lives.  When you’ve been nice to others during their struggles, it is more likely they will return the favor during your time of need.  This is just human nature.  Most of us feel really motivated to help those that have helped us.  Stephen Covey described this as the emotional bank account.

5.  Doing good deeds adds meaning and significance to your life

When you donate money to further a good cause or volunteer your time to help build a house for an underprivileged family or go visit a friend in the hospital, your life suddenly becomes much more meaningful and significant.  You are making this world a slightly better place with your acts of kindness.  This is valuable and it makes us feel important which is something we all want.

6.  Being a volunteer can help you discover hidden talents

Volunteering is a great way to be nice.  It can also help you to uncover talents you didn’t know you had.  They say that necessity is the mother of invention.  Well, when you put yourself in a position to see the needs of others, you might rise to the occasion and discover capabilities that you never knew you had.  This can be fun and exciting!

7.  Being a do-gooder relieves stress and guilt

Being nice and doing good deeds is a less stressful way to live.  It creates less conflict and avoids feelings of guilt over bad behavior.  In addition, the act of doing something nice for another generates those great feelings that seem to trump all that stress that we build up from daily living.

8.  Helping others will make you feel thankful and advantaged

When we engage in assisting others in their time of need, we often walk away feeling better about our situation.  We naturally compare our lives to those that we are helping.  This comparison can leave you feeling more grateful for the life you have.  You’ll be able to see just how advantaged you are!

9.  Being nice fosters a greater sense of family and community

Your niceness will lead you to meet all kinds of people and get involved in a plethora of worthwhile activities.  This builds a greater sense of togetherness.  Even within your own family unit, you can foster an increased sense of connectedness and fondness toward one another by being extra thoughtful.  Being nice has a powerful effect!

10.  Engaging in generous acts distracts you from your own troubles

Doing nice things for others can serve as a useful distraction from the the challenges you face.  If you are trying to quit a bad habit, then generously engage yourself in helping others to keep your mind off of smoking or eating or biting your nails.  This is an excellent strategy that profits you and others!

Go be nice and you’ll experience many positive benefits!

As you can see from the list above, being nice has many benefits.  Wouldn’t the world be such a better place if we were all just a little nicer today?  We would all feel so much better about one another and ourselves too!  I challenge you to increase your effort at being nice and see for yourself what it does for your attitude and happiness.

What other benefits are there to being nice?

Photo by bayRange